Morning Motivator – My BIG Trip

"Stuff your eyes with wonder . . . live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories."
-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

This afternoon, I am leaving for an ADVENTURE in Scotland. This is the FIRST life changing adventure of my adulthood and I wanted to share some of the thoughts I have had over the past weeks.

My mind has been wrapped around the IDEA of adventure and what it entails. What DEFINES an adventure? LONG distances to travel? High RISK? FOREIGN languages? I suggest, yes… and no.

Amazingly, we often OVERLOOK the adventures we are able to take part in daily. The adventure of CHALLENGING our own belief systems. The adventure of OVERCOMING our own internal misconceptions. The adventure of BREAKING THROUGH our "bad habits" and implementing the SUCCESS patterns we know we SHOULD be doing.

Are these ADVENTURES? SURE! They all REQUIRE a great deal of travel – from the successes we have achieved prior to the successes we plan to see in our future. They all require HIGH RISK – we must risk our comforts and confidences to find the ACHIEVEMENTS we have yet to discover. They all REQUIRE a FOREIGN language – as we commonly do not know the words to use or are afraid of them because of what they represent… such as additional "education, extra hours at the office or setting goals with commitments." We may not UNDERSTAND what all of those truly mean… but isn't that the FUN of an ADVENTURE?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
As you seek to shape your world, don't overlook the adventures of today that will lead you to the adventures of tomorrow. In order to make the trips around the world, you must first take the success trips around "your world."

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and expect to have a delayed process in the Morning Motivator publications next week. Expect interruptions… and know that there are GREAT pictures to come!!

As part of my CONTINUED commitment to accountability, today is my weight check in: 227.5lbs, Last Monday: 226.0lbs, Delta: +1.5lbs (22.5lbs to go!)

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Work Reflecting Life

"Either way you go, to get it right, there will be pain and investment."
- Greg Summey, Advanced Network Solutions Managed Services Operations Director

Yesterday, my colleague and I were on a call with a FUTURE client discussing their computer systems.

The client had a question about the BEST approach to STABILIZING their distressed environment. In the chat, I was CAPTIVATED by the above quote from Greg.

It brought to light the fact that ANY approach to improving your situation, just as in our business, will REQUIRE some pain and investment. Whether the focus be based around a terribly organized server or your PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL life.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
As with anything, the more you INVEST, the better the outcome. You may "lose" time, money and energy. As a result, you WILL gain valuable education and resilience.

You must ASSESS yourself - where to you need POSITIVE change? What area of your being could use some PAIN and INVESTMENT?

When you take time to INVENTORY the best and worst of yourself, the ANALYSIS and EXEUCTION of better practices becomes EASY to identify. The NEXT STEP is ACTION!!

Do not HESITATE to better yourself. The PAIN and INVESTMENT will ALWAYS yield an IMPROVED version of yourself... ALWAYS!!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Who's Following You?

"An individual artist needs only a thousand true fans in her tribe. It's enough."
- Seth Godin, Author of "Tribes"

How many FaceBook FRIENDS do you have? How about TWITTER? Do you have a weekly CALL list?

Believe it or not - MANY people are following you! They hold onto your OPINIONS and make DECISIONS based on your thoughts.

They may be your CHILDREN, a SPOUSE, a FRIEND or even CO-WORKERS. Occasionally, they are people you don't even KNOW. They are "watchers" of YOU. They are ASSOCIATES of friends that have heard about your QUALITY and watch from afar.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Building a team of LOYAL followers is an excellent way to BUILD success.

Commonly, many people are MOTIVATED by one person - their LEADER. You don't need SPECIAL training, nor a BIRTHRIGHT to be a leader. You just need to have FOLLOWERS... and be WILLING to lead.

There are no TRICKS. Speak about what fires your PASSIONS, take ACTION above discussion and ALWAYS consider what's BEST for your people... The rest they will DO!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Was That Worth Winning?

"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."
- J. Kozol

I will again make a reference to my FAVORITE book of all time - "The Four Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferriss.

In Tim's book, he discusses the idea of BUYING back your time. The idea is SIMPLE. If you could AVOID some mundane tasks or an engagement you would rather not take part of, isn't it worth your MONEY to get out of it? Think about this...

If you wanted a weekend RETREAT with your loved one, but had yard work that needed completed - would you pay someone to do it? Sure! What if you felt CONFIDENT that you could eliminate 1 work day per week by outsourcing your ADMINISTRATIVE work? Would you OUTSOURCE it? Of Course! And YET... a BIG YET... we DO NOT. Why?

Most commonly, we are AFRAID to give up control, so we wage battles we cannot win with people over things that really don't matter. We FRET about a late payment, a missed document, a forgotten letter... and commonly that "forgotten task" was requested to be completed by someone ILL-SUITED to do it. So why start that MESS?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
I will give you a PERSONAL example.

This Friday through October 4th, I will be in Scotland, UK (expect some Morning Motivator delays) and was SUPPOSED to be supporting my fellow colleagues in Leadership Nashville for a weekend event. Obviously, I will not be ABLE to attend and support my team. However, I have taken on TASKS up front to eliminate the pains they would feel by my absence.

As part of this, I PROCURED some beverages for group. The final TAB was a bit more than what was provided to me up front, however I will be in SCOTLAND! Seriously, is my time worth BICKERING over $30 I paid EXTRA for the drinks or take it as my investment towards 3 additional days in SCOTLAND... without any stress!

For me, the money is worth the time I FREED (over 72 hours) and the stress elimination (I have effectively delegated all tasks away). Would you pay $0.42/hour to free yourself? WIN the battles worth winning - leave the rest BEHIND!

As part of my CONTINUED commitment to accountability, today is my weight check in: 226.0lbs, Last Friday: 226.9lbs, Delta: -0.9lbs (back on track with 20lbs to go!)

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - A Fantasy Football Lesson

"He suffered from paralysis by analysis."
- Unknown

If you need more EVIDENCE that I am a DORK - here you go!

I found an INTERESTING opportunity to reflect and share a lesson from Fantasy Football for the Morning Motivator. I have DECIDED to participate in an office fantasy football league. As with most other things, I REALLY want to win. So I spent a few minutes ANALYZING my team and their match ups…

Some DECISIONS we made, players cut and others started. I released a player that had a CAREER game. I sat my #1 Quarterback in lieu of someone I picked up. I also sat my #1 wide receiver. WHY? Simple, they had UNFAVORABLE match ups. Here comes the lesson…

They had GREAT games. My "benched" wide receiver scored MORE than the 2 guys I played. Now, how does this relate to REAL life?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
In REAL life, just as in FANTASY FOOTBALL, the best players ALWAYS find a way to achieve. TOP TALENT is not concerned about match ups or conditions - they just COMPETE and AC HEIEVE.

Here are lessons I learned:
First, play your STUDS. There is a reason why they are SUPERSTARS. They WILL put up the numbers regardless of the situation.

Second, YOU are the stud. You too can ACHIEVE in the face of any conditions. Your match ups, misconceptions, prejudices, etc are only able to AFFECT you… if YOU let them!

Don't make a MISTAKE second guessing or OVERANALYZING your options. Go with what you know is BEST. Always have FAITH in yourself and in your decisions… and be thankful when you WIN in spite of yourself (like I did this weekend).

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.